{"id":15526,"date":"2019-04-16T19:35:25","date_gmt":"2019-04-16T23:35:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/?p=15526"},"modified":"2019-10-10T02:04:29","modified_gmt":"2019-10-10T06:04:29","slug":"women-must-be-at-centre-of-peacekeeping-decision-making-un-chief-tells-security-council","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/?p=15526","title":{"rendered":"Women must be at \u2018centre of peacekeeping decision-making\u2019, UN chief tells Security Council"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

. WOMEN’S EQUALITY .<\/p>\n

An article from United Nations News<\/a><\/p>\n

Women\u2019s rights, voices and participation must be at \u201cthe centre of peacekeeping decision-making\u201d, United Nations Secretary-General\u00a0Ant\u00f3nio Guterres\u00a0told the Security Council on Thursday [April 11], describing them as \u201ccentral to sustainable solutions\u201d to challenges facing the Organization worldwide.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nUN Secretary-General briefs the Security Council on women in peacekeeping operations, 11 April 2019. (UN Photo\/Manuel Elias)<\/center><\/p>\n

Through its landmark\u00a0resolution 1325\u00a0<\/a> on women and peace and security, the Council reaffirmed the participation and involvement of women, which the UN chief\u00a0hailed\u00a0<\/a> as \u201ca key element in the maintenance of international peace and security\u201d. He also noted the UN\u2019s \u201cessential system-wide effort\u201d to enhance women\u2019s representation at all levels and in all arenas, through his Strategy on Gender Parity.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not just a question of numbers, but also of our effectiveness in fulfilling our mandates\u201d, he stated, citing evidence that more women peacekeepers lead to more credible protection responses that meet the needs of all.<\/p>\n

In patrol units women can better access intelligence to provide a holistic view of security challenges, and at checkpoints they promote a less confrontational atmosphere, he said.<\/p>\n

Within troop contingents they lower incidences of sexual exploitation and abuse; yield greater reporting of sexual and gender-based violence; and can access local women\u2019s networks, leading to more inclusive peace processes.<\/p>\n

\u2018Step towards parity\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Secretary-General thanked the more than 150 Member States who have signed on to his Action for Peacekeeping (A4P) initiative, which calls for women\u2019s participation in every stage of peace operations, and integrates a gender perspective into all analysis, planning, implementation and reporting.<\/p>\n

And he was grateful to the States who, at last week\u2019s Ministerial on Peacekeeping, launched the\u00a0Elsie Initiative\u00a0<\/a> to break down barriers to increasing women\u2019s participation in peace operations.<\/p>\n

In support of the UN\u2019s commitments in these areas, Mr. Guterres noted a range of actions, including the\u00a0Gender-Responsive Peacekeeping Operations Policy<\/a>, which \u201ccommits us to promoting leadership and accountability both for gender equality and for the women, peace and security agenda\u201d.<\/p>\n

Flagging that since December 2015, the number of women in uniform has increased by only around one per cent, he spelled out that \u201cthis is clearly not enough\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year\u201d, he informed the Chamber, \u201cwe rolled out the\u00a0Uniformed Gender Parity Strategy<\/a> \u201d, which, among other things, targets by 2028 a range of 15 to 35 per cent of women\u2019s representation, including military, police and justice and corrections personnel.<\/p>\n

(Article continued in right column)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Question for this article:<\/strong><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n

\n

UN Resolution 1325, does it make a difference? <\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

(Article continued from the left column.)<\/p>\n

While acknowledging that it \u201chas been more challenging\u201d, Mr. Guterres vowed \u201cto press ahead\u201d, adding that \u201ckeep on track, we need assistance from you, the Member States\u201d.<\/p>\n

He asked for a greater focus on women in battalions and formed police units and for the sustained recruitment and deployment of women within national services.<\/p>\n

Noting that for the first time in UN history the senior leadership is close to achieving gender parity, Mr. Guterres reiterated his commitment to sustaining that progress: \u201cWe need to bring the same spirit to our peace operations\u201d, he stressed. \u201cThis is crucial for our effectiveness, credibility and reputation\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018Pushing gender equality\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

The first female Force Commander and current Head of the UN Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) mission, Major General Kristin Lund\u00a0told the Council\u00a0<\/a> that the \u201cmomentum of pushing gender equality must be kept\u201d.<\/p>\n

As Force Commander of the UN mission in Cyprus, she teamed up with Lisa Buttenheim, the Special Representative at the time. \u201cFor once I did not need to convince my boss that gender was important\u201d she said. \u201cBoth of us had gender equality in our spine\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Major General enumerated some examples of her work in increasing the number of women, helping them in missions and reaching out to local communities.<\/p>\n

Noting many reasons why the armed forces have a difficulty keeping women in the ranks, she outlined frequent obstacles thrown up by male culture in military settings, giving the example of how \u201cposters with half naked women\u201d hang in mission gyms.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow many women do gym in bikinis?\u201d Ms. Lund asked rhetorically, saying that under her command in Cyprus \u201cwomanized posters vanished\u201d.<\/p>\n

She also mandated that the all-male teams in military skills competitions had to have females.<\/p>\n

\u201cGender is on the top of my agenda\u201d, she said, adding that she initiated a female military network, engaged women to become more visible and increased the number of female observers.<\/p>\n

Troop and police contributing countries \u201cmust do more\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe, out in the field, need to be able to reach out to the whole society. Only you can make that happen\u201d, the Force Commander concluded.<\/p>\n

Diversity is a strength<\/strong><\/p>\n

Chairing the meeting, German Federal Minister of Defense, Ursula von der Leyen said: \u201cWomen are no better peacekeepers than men, but they are different. And this diversity is a strength\u201d.<\/p>\n

Pointing out that Resolution 1325 has been in effect for almost 20 years, she maintained that it is \u201cstill far from full, effective and meaningful participation of women in peace operations\u201d.<\/p>\n

To change that, Ms. von der Leyen suggested, among other things, to have successful female mentors to share their stories to younger women; have more women in national forces for deployment to international peacekeeping missions; and assess national barriers that keeps more women from joining peace operations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe peacekeeper\u2019s blue helmet symbolizes protection and security\u201d, she said. \u201cLet us make this helmet be worn by more women. For the sake of peace\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

. WOMEN’S EQUALITY . An article from United Nations News Women\u2019s rights, voices and participation must be at \u201cthe centre of peacekeeping decision-making\u201d, United Nations Secretary-General\u00a0Ant\u00f3nio Guterres\u00a0told the Security Council on Thursday [April 11], describing them as \u201ccentral to sustainable solutions\u201d to challenges facing the Organization worldwide. UN Secretary-General briefs the Security Council on women … Continue reading Women must be at \u2018centre of peacekeeping decision-making\u2019, UN chief tells Security Council<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[76,93,12],"tags":[11,94],"class_list":["post-15526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-global","category-united-nations","category-women","tag-global","tag-united-nations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15526"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15526\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}